their number they are three Secondly their continuance they abide Thirdly the extent of their continuance how long they abide and that is nunc during the state of this present life Now they abide Faith Hope and Charitie these three These three first that points to their number and it gives us to note first saith Cajetane that they are not all one and the same vertue and therefore would not rashly be confounded Some upon the former words of the Apostle at the seventh verse of this Chapter Charitie beleeveth all things hopeth all things endureth all things are ready to conclude that these three vertues grow at last into one and all shut up in Charitie for as much as beleeving is the act of faith and yet the Apostle saith Charitie beleeveth all things and expecting the act of Hope and yet hee saith Charitie hopeth all things It should seeme therefore if charitie execute the acts of faith and hope that faith and hope are at length confounded with charitie But it is not so the Apostle tels us they are three still and they remaine three though charitie at length get the prâ—heminâ—ncâ— and command the acts of both the other Three they are then and only three as no lesse so no more no more vertues truly called Theologicall or Divine but these that is vertues which fix upon God as their immediate object No why is there not the Feare of God and Pietic and Zeale and Invocation and Confession And what is the immediate object of these but God Right saith Aquinas Other vertues may fix upon God too but it is mediantibusâ—stis by the mediation of these All other divine vertues doe but manifest our Faith Hope and Charity or put them in execution Only Faith Hope and Charity joyne us immediately to God other graces joyne us to him by the meanes of these As for example What is Invocation and Prayer to God but an effect of our Faith and therefore unites us to the Almightie because it is made in faith so faith comes between prayer and God What is the feare of God if it be a chaste and filiall feare but the fruit of our love Wee cannot love God dearly but wee must needs feare to lose his favour And if it be only a servile fear then it is the fruit of our faith wee feare the power and vengeance of God because we beleeve him to be Almighty What else are Zeale and Piety but fruits of our Charity likewise Wee obey God we are zealous for him Why but because wee love him so love comes between zeale God Patience long suffering what are they but effects of our hope Therfore we are patient because we wait hope for Gods help so hope comes between patience and God These 3 then only these 3 Faith Hope Charitie are called vertues Theological or truly divine because they fix immediately wholly upon God all other vertues but in through these God is the measure saith Cajetane the Formalis ratio the entiâ—e object of saith sith what ever truth we beleeve by faith we beleeve only for Gods sake because wee beleeve God hath revealed it What ever blessings we embrace by divine hope it is for Gods cause too who hath made us promises in his word to build our hope upon who himselfe is hoped for as the true fountaine of our blisse What ever good we fix upon by our Charitie it is for Gods sake also God is the thing we love above all all things else but for under God So that these three none but these are the three vertues properly and immediately divine subordinate to no other But are they not also subordinate among themselves Yes that they are And that makes such a coÌ„nexion between them that where one abides they abide all together that abiding is the next point of our division next after their number their continuance Now abide these three Abide how why united and joyned together as I told you so that where one of them is there must needs be the other And abide that is uninterruptedly continually as long as wee abide Christians wee cannot bee in the favour of God without all of them First united they abide where one is there is the other Where Charitie is there must needs bee Hope for Hope is the ground of love we cannot love unlesse wee hope to partake some good by what we love And where Hope is there must needs bee Faith expect any blessing we cannot unlesse wee first beleeve the goodnesse of that we hope for a blessing from So that Charitie infers the rest yea and so doth faith also For though it bee true there is Fides historica a bare historicall Faith such an one as the Devils beleeve and tremble by as St. Iames hath it a Faith without Love yet that is not the lively and justifying faith true saving faith can be no more without love than the body can be without life it is a dead faith that lives not by charitie and if saving faith include charitie it must needs draw in hope too For no charitie can be unlesse it be founded in hope as yee have heard already so that take one of these and take all where one abide all abide where one is wanting all are wanting No marvell therefore the Apostle saith now abide these three that is these three altogether Take any one away and the other fall to the ground And as they are thus necessarie one to another so they are assistant and helpfull each to the other Faith assistant to Hope and Hope to Charitie and Charitie to both and everie of them to one another For he that beleeves in God saith Haymo hopes also for those things which he finds promised from God and the more he hopes the stronger he beleeves and beleeving and hoping things so excellent he cannot choose but love The more hee hopes the more he delights in his hope the more hee delights the more hee must needs love for delight cherisheth love as love still begets more delight Hence is it that faith it selfe cannot stand unlesse the delight of hope strengthen it and support it that it may not bee wearie of beleeving Nor can hope it selfe subsist unlesse it bee grounded in faith as it were an anchor upon a rock nor can the rock long hold the anchor nor the anchor cleave to the rock unlesse Charitie like a strong cable fasten and pull both together so that each of these help one another to abide and abide any one or two cannot well if the third be wanting Thus you see their 〈◊〉 nexion in abiding Next there followes their continuance in abiding and that yee may observe in the Adverb Nunc the next point of our division Now they abide that is during the state of our Christianitie or if yee will of our mortalitie During the state of our Christianitie they are so necessarie that none can bee a moment without them and abide in Gods
Bibles become now the adequate object of faith sith no divine Revelation we know in these daies any where save in Scripture And yet all things in Scripture doe not alike essent ally belong to our faith but chiefly those things that concerne our salvation for Faith saith St. Paul is the substance of things hoped for so that those eternall blessings wee expect and hope for in the world to come those are the principall matter of faith Hence comes the applying and particular faith whereby we beleeve our sins remitted our selves reconciled into Gods favour and all the promises made to the faithfull in Scripture particularly and personally belonging to us I know there are many cavils betwixt our Writers and the Romish about the true nature of Faith Bellarmine and his Crue would have Faith no more than a bare assent to Gods revealed Truth as that Christ is the true Son of God that he was made man that he suffered was buried rose againe and the like Calvin and those that follow him would have it more than a bare assent namely together with our assenting an applying all the benefit of what we beleeve to our selves as that Christ died and rose againe for me that my sins are remitted that I shall be glorified in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting But this is objected by Popish writers to belong to Hope So Lapide What is Hope saith he if this be Faith If I must beleeve my selfe in the number of the Elect that I shall persevere to the end and be saved Why Hope can doe no more To salve this doubt we must in the second place enquire into the nature of Hope and it is defined by the Schoole to be Expectatio boni ardui futuri An expectation of some great good to come Here we may observe immediately no small difference from faith for the act of faith is to beleeve the act of hope to expect or look for Faith beleeves things good and bad hell as well as heaven torments to come as well as blessednesse Hope fixes only upon that which is good we hope for no other things than those that concerne our happinesse Faith is also as well of things past as of things to come but Hope is only of things to come We beleeve that Christ died and rose againe by faith as well as that hee shall come to judgement wee cannot hope that Christ shall rise again as we hope he shal come to judgement So then as Hessusius Hessusius well notes there is no such confusion betwixt our Faith Hope as Lapide talks of for by faith we beleeve all manner of good things and evill things revealed in Gods word be they past present or to come But by Hope wee embrace only good things and those neither past nor present but to come and such as wee earnestly desire and wait for Consequently that my sins are remitted is not matter of Hope but of Faith for this is a thing presant That I am an elect child of God not matter of Hope neither but of Faith for it is a thing past our election is from eternitie But that I shall persevere and be saved that is a matter as well of Hope as of Faith because it is a future good Herein only is the difference that by faith I beleeve my salvation to come and assent unto it as a sure thing but by Hope I long and wait for my salvation to come and wish and pray for it as a good thing So that faith is the ground of hope and hope the perfection of faith No such confusion therefore betwixt a justifying faith and a religious hope as our cavilling Romanists imagine By this you see how faith and hope differ we come in the next place to charitie which is defined by the learned to be Habitus quo diligitur Deus propter seipsum proximus propter Deum A vertue whereby wee love God for himselfe and our neighbour for Gods sake This appeares immediately distinguished from faith and hope for the act of faith is to beleeve of hope to expect but of charitie to love Againe faith beleeves things absent only and not seene but charitie loves as well what it sees as what it sees not And hope looks only for things to come but charitie loves things present likewise so that charitie is larger and fuller than either of the other Neverthelesse it cannot be denyed though charitie be larger yet it proceeds from the other for faith is the root both of charitie hope too He that comes to God must beleeve that God is saith St. Paul that he is a rewarder of them that seek him must beleeve first that God is there is faith then and faith first of all And secondly that he is a rewarder of them that seeke him there is the ground of hope suppose which and charitie will follow for if I hope for reward from God I cannot be so unnaturall as not to love him if it be but for the benefit sake I hope to receive from him Hope of earthly benefits begets love how much more hope of heavenly But untill faith and hope have gotten place I cannot love For before faith comes there is no knowledge of God at all and if no knowledge then sure no love for Ignoti nulla cupido We cannot love a thing we know not And though we know and beleeve there is a God yet untill wee find somewhat to hope for from this God we cannot love him Feare him we may indeed and admire him but not truly love him till wee find in our faith the substance of things hoped for that is some benefits received or expected from him and then comes in love which yet is no true love while it is but mercenarie while it loves God only for hires sake for those blessings it looks after from God for make the best of such a love it is but a meere concupiscentiall love such a love as a hungry man loves his meat with or a needy man his money Never is it right charitie indeed till it come to Amor amicitiae till we begin to love God as our selves nay not then neither is it right till wee have attained to prefer him above our selves to love of him better then when we have made God the ground and measure of our love so that we love him in the first place above all things else and our selves and other creatures in the second place in and for God then our charitie growes true and kindly indeed plant such a love in us once and all the Commandements of God will be easie then faith and hope wax strong and grow both the riper and the fairer by the heat of this love and so yee see in part what these three vertues are which is our first particular In the next place wee proceed to see what is affirmed of them Three things yee may here observe delivered of these three vertues in common First
thing without which no love no approaching no comming to God possible Oportet accedentent credere He that comes must beleeve Which brings us on to the next gradation namely beleeving He that comes must beleeve saith St. Paul and it is no weake conclusion for no small necessity lyes in the connection of these two Hee must indeed whosoever intends to come to God unlesse hee will stand stock still and not put forward one foot in the way beleeve and submit his judgement to God before he can begin to come For faith is the first step of all possible motion to Godward faith Aquinas If our comming to God be a mentall comming not a corporall why beleefe is the very first act of the minds approaching the very first thing that the mind can doe about God is to beleeve For impossible the will or any other faculty should make towards God till the understanding have done his part And impossible the understanding should comprehend any thing concerning God unlesse beleeving leade the way Oportet discentem credere is the Philosophers Rule He that learnes any humane Science must take diverse things upon trust at first entrance and beleeve some principles before he sees reason for them And shall not God expect as much obedience at our hands in learning his divine Mysteries which so farre surpasse our Reason yes sure if the perfection of all our learning bee to know God good reason this great perfection should begin in in perfection that we should first beleeve what wee know not I will hearken what the Lord God will say concerning me saith David Teach me O Lord the way of thy Statutes O learne me true understanding and knowledge for I have believed thy Commandements Mark that there is the way to learn namely by beleeving Everyone therefore that hath heard and learned of my Father commeth unto me saith Christ How learned ye but by beleeving his Teacher Yea but Christ himselfe he learned without beleeving Yee will say And if beleeving were not necessary for Christ how is it for us yea but Christ was head of the body in which is the perfection of all Senses In Christ were bid all the treasures of wisâ—dome and knowledge In him dwelled the fulnesse of the God-head bodily He was the true light that lightens all men else no need therefore of his beleeving for beleeving is necessary for them that walke in darknesse but in Christ was no darknesse at all We wa'ke as in an obscure must we see through a Glasse darkely saith Saint Paul but so did not Christ He saw face to face And therefore he had more then beleefe of divine things hee had perfect knowledge and San light Nay he himselfe was the Sun light the Sonne of Righteousnesse which lightens every man that commeth into the World And when we shall come where Christ is and be united to the beames of his glory we shall then have Sun-light too But as yet wee have but Candle-light or Star-light as Saint Peter calls it The Word of Prophecy whereto you doe well to give heede saith he as to a light shining in a darke place till the day dawne and the day starre arise in your hearts Till that day dawne and the morning breake of eternity in the next life shine forth upon us well are we if we nay injoy this Candle light if we may be directed by the beames of divine Revelation and walke by faith not by sight Meane while let us not grudge that we have not so cleare a Vision of God and heavenly things as we would wish at first It is necessary wee should grow by degrees that the knowledge of divine things may grow the more pleasant with us the more wee are still inlightned Happy are we that we enjoy the least perception of God in any degree that wee have the smallest spark of his knowledge in the dimmest way For as the foolishnesse of God is wiser then men so the very darkenesse if I may so call it of Gods waâ—es is brighter then men Better is it to have an obscure beleefe of his Mysteries then the clearest knowledge the most perfect science of other matters and let us content our selves so to know our Maker as hee pleaseth to bee knowne not goe about to square his deepe Counsells to our shallow judgements sufficient to us to know that hee hath said without saith it is impossible to please God Whatsoever is not of faith is sin By saith we are justified and not by the workes of the Law Rom. 3. It is God that justifies the circumcision by faith and the uncircumcision through faith The life that I now live is by faith in the Sonne of God He that beleeveth and is Baptized shall bee saved but hee that beleeveth not shall be damned Yea but yet a reason though may be rendred one would thinke for Gods Counsell in this why he would tie all nâ—en that desire to bee saved to this one meanes of beleeving Reasons indeed may be rendred for this oportet many a one but still the best reason of all is Gods Will because he pleases to have it so oportet it is expedient that hee who comes to God should beleeve Why first for Huâ—â—lities sake such Estius because as by pride of our reason and thirst of knowledge we tooke then our fall so by submitting our knowledge to God and by denying our owne reason in the obedience of faith we night rise againe Expedient thus to make good our Saviours Doctrine Except yee become as lâ—le Children yee cannot enter into the Kingdome of God Expedient for Gods glory that we might owe all our knowledge of God to Gods own teaching by his Word revealing it to us according to that of the Prophet Every one shall be taught of God Expedient that thus the obedience of our faâ—th might be more glorious in the eyes of Infidels for what praise were it to doe any thing for Gods sake if wee were led to it by perfect knowledge There is no honour of faith saith Gregory where we have manifest reason to induce our good working And therefore that our love may be more apparant let our knowledge bee obscure Let us love what we see not Let us sustet and die for Gods Truth before wee have the perfect vision of it Herein is the miracle of faith that wee can forgoe things temporall before our eyes for the desire of things eternall as yet not knowne Thus the strength of God is perfected in weaknesse and thus the foolishnesse of our preaching goes beyond all the wiâ—edome of Philosophers that whereas they by all the shength of their reason could never perswade an unlearned man for vertues sake to part with his goods Divine faith as weake as it is will teach the simplest Christian for his beleefe â—ake to part with his life Thus also men are trained up to obedience before they know and attaine still to know more by their progresâ—e in obedience according to that
favour If his Charitie be gone if he have lost his first love his life is gone Of such an one it may be said Thou hast a name that thou livest but thou art dead If his hope be gone he is wrapt in despaire The ship hath lost her anchor and who shall save her from rocks or sands if hee have lost his faith the verie foundation of all is gone then Hee is somewhat worse than an Infidell because hee denies what once hee acknowledged So that as long as well live these three vertues must live in us or towards God wee live not and if these things bee in us they will make us wee shall not bee barren nor unfruitfull as Saint Peter saith For these are the substance of all Religion the ground and foundation of true righteousnesse saith Musculus both in the Old and New Testament without these all Ceremonies all Sacraments all outward worship is but dead Sacraments may vary and Ceremonies may vary but these thorowout all parts of our life and thorowout all ages of the world abide the same There is but one Faith one Hope one Baptisme saith St. Paul Ephes 4. consequently but one Charitie as there is but one God the maiâ—e object of Charity Not only abide then these three vertues doe but they abide still the same And abide now that is in the soules of the faithfull during the state of mortality for this Now points to our state of mortality as appeares by the verse afore our Text Now wee see thorow a glasse darkly but then face to face Now that is in the time of this life Then that is in the time of the next So now abide Faith Hope and Charity that is all the while we live here so doe not miracles so do not tongues and prophesie and the gifts spoken of before For these are neither common to all the Elect saith Musculus nor remaine to the end of our lives nor yet necessarily include Hope and Charity not common to all the Elect for many good men want those miraculous gifts nor abide to the end of life for they that have them oftentimes are at a losse the Prophets alway prophesie not neither do the divinely-inspired alwayes speake with tongues but at set times as the Spirit moves them Neither doe these include Charity for we may understand all Prophecy and speake with the tongues of men and Angels yea and have the gifts of Miracles too to move mountaines and yet for lack of Charity come to nothing Charity therefore and Faith and Hope they abide to the last so as none of the other doe They continue the whole Nunc of our life out to the end and we cannot be a moment without them that is without the habite of them As for the act wee doe not perhaps alwaies actually beleeve actually hope or actually love our weake frailty will not permit it but yet we must alwaies have these Graces in habit that is stand ever prepared for the act as occasion serves And thus they abide all three of them necessarily and joyntly and uninterruptedly while wee abide in this world abide they doe all three but one of the three hath the advantage of them for it not onely abides in this world but in the next too Nunc in saeculâ— saeculoriâ— That is Charity and that is the reason why it is preferred above the other The greatest of these is charity Which brings us to the second generall namely the comparative part wherein Charity carries the preheminence among the divine vertues themselves Major autem horum charitas c. For the proofe of which Proposition observe first how Charity beares the sway among the other It commands and moves and as it were enlivens the rest Our love stirres us up to beleeve more and more to hope more and more and the more we love the stronger wee beleeve the more earnestly we hope As it were the Soule over the members so Charity commands all other vertues All worke all doe their parts at Charities bidding so that very well by the Schoole-men she is termed the essentiall sorme of them all For take Faith without Charity and it is a cold and heartlesse thing no warmth no spirit in it we seele no joy in such a saith at all Take Hope without Charity and what is it but a withering â—erbe in cold of winter no sap no juyce in it there is neither delight nor feeling in either of them till Love breath upon them and give them a new life Then Faith is able to stand all encounters and Hope lifts up her head in the forest tryalls when Charity sweetens them all Charity therefore is the greatest and highest of all vertues so much better then Faith and Hope as the building is better then the foundation as the fruite is better than the stalke that beares it Nay Charity it is like the Sun among the lesser Plannets saith Lapide It gives light and vigour and soule to all other graces It is like the fire among the Elements like Gold among other metalls like the Empyraean Heaven above the lower Oâ—bâ—s like the Seraphims among the lesser Angels For Charity is indeed the 〈◊〉 Celestiall fire that inflames the hearts of Gods chosen Charity the true Gold wherewith in a sort we purchase heavenly Merchandise Charity the true Empyraean Heaven wherein dwells God and his Angels that Heaven which enlightens inspires and regulates all the rest Charity is the Seraphicall vertue indeed which makes the Seraphims themselves ardently burning from whence they have their name The same that the Sunne is in the World the Magistrate in his City the Mariner in his Vessell is Charity in the heart of a Christian Without the Mariner the Vessell slotes at randome and perisheth Without her Magistrate the City falls to confusion without the Sun the whole World were darke and without Charity our very life it selfe hath scarce any life in it For Love is the life of life Love is the soule of the World so that God himselfe is called by the name of love 1 Iohn 4. Nor wonder at Saint Iohn for it for of all the vertues in the World none so nearely joynes and unites us to God as love doth Consequently Charity must bee the greatest of all divine vertues as Aquinas notes well For among morall Vertues that is the greatest which comes nearest to the rule of all vertue to wit Right reason That doth Prudence which toucheth the rule as neare as neare may be being it selfe nothing but the view of right reason Consequently prudence is the greatest morall Vertue because it is next the Rule And by the same reason is Charity the greatest of all divine vertues and morall too for the Rule of divine vertues is not reason but God that made reason who is the Rule of reason it selfe Consequently that vertue which toucheth nearest upon God the prime Rule of Rules must needs be the greatest vertue that may be imagined and
should reach the end of our way and bee joyned to God except wee come along the way and draw towards God Impossible to come unlesse we first beleeve So that here is a concatenation of duties as Estins notes one hanging as it were in a chaine upon another no glorification no union with God except wee first please him no pleasing him unlesse we come to him by love no love no comming unlesse we take faith in our way unlesse we first beleeve and no beleefe possible no faith not the least graine of it except wee beleeve this namely that God is and that he is a Rewarder of them that seek him So that here yee have love and faith and hope all knit together here yee have likewise all three degrees of faith namely Credere Deum Credere Deo and Credere in Deum To beleeve that God is that we have in expresse termes Hee that comes to God must beleeve that he is Credere Deo To beleeve or give credit to God and his word that is implyed in the act of beleeving for if wee must beleeve that God is whom shall we beleeve about it whom shall wee give credit to that this is so to whom but God As hee that comes must beleeve that God is so hee must beleeve God and none but God revealing of this sith God only is fit to be relyed on and then Credere in Deum to beleeve in God that is implyed in the last words to wit that God is a Rewarder of them that seeke him Hee that beleeves God a Rewarder puts his trust in him for his salvation so here is the perfection of faith in all three kinds To beleeve that God is to beleeve God concerning this and what ever he reveales else and to beleeve in God that hee will reward and save us while we diligently seek him We proceed to the handling of the words which consist as it were of foure steps or degrees of drawing nigh to God The first comming He that comes The second beleeving without which no comming Hee that comes must beleeve The third beleese of Gods being without which no beleeving at all for it is the first ground-work of all beleefe concerning God Hee that comes must beleeve that God is The fourth beleefe of his providence or gracious dealing that hee will reward us when wee seeke him without which no comfortable beleeving For little joy or encouragement in well-doing to beleeve that God is except we beleeve also that he is a Rewarder of such as diligently seek him To take these in order we begin with the first Accedentem He that comes by which phrase what should bee meant need not much trouble us to enquire sure we are it can be no corporall comming for God is neither a corporall thing nor corporally or locally distant from his creatures He fils all places lerem 23. Nonne Coelum terram impleo And whither shall I goe from thy presence saith David In him wee live wee move and have our being saith Saint Paul No great way need we to goe after him for he is not far from every one of us Acts 17. But as hee saith in another place The word is nigh to thee even in your hearts that yee may know it and doe it So here God is nigh to us if wee would seeke him even in the midst of us in our very hearts if wee would returne to our hearts by love Redite pravaricatores ad cor saith the Prophet Returne yee sinners to your owne hearts Returne not passibus pedâ—m but passibus affectuum saith a reverend father Not with the steps of your feet but by the steps of your affection For they are indeed the soules feet and this is the way of comming to God namely by setting our hearts upon him by loving by affecting by longing after him Thus Christ invites you to come Come yee that are wearie and heavie laden thus David Come yee children hearken unto me I will teach you thus Isaiah chap. 1. vers 16. Come now and let us reason together saith the Lord c. If your sins were as red as scarlet they shall be white as snow So that comming to God it is indeed by turning the course of our affections toward him that is by loving him Turne to the Lord with all your heart saith Joel And why will yee dye ô house of Israel turne rather and live saith Ezechiel Now two things this turning or comming to God requires One Aversio a turning away from the creature a deâ—ying a forsaking our selves and then Conversio a turning toward an approaching or drawing nigh to God The turning away from our selves that is forsaking our owne wayes as the Prophet Esay hath it If we come to God we must come out of the wrong way and come into the right or else no comming And then the turning toward God that is right comming to him and that is by love Then indeed wee come to God when wee give over the love of ourselves and begin to love God and his Commandements better then our selves If yee love me keepe my Commandements saith Christ To come to God therefore it is to make God the end of our actions saith Estius to set him alwaies before our eyes and to propose him and his glory the marke and scope of all that wee goe about To draw nearer to him dâ—ily by growing more and more like him in a holy life according to that of St. Iames Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh â— you Iames 4. Chap. and 8. verse Thus have I looked for thee 〈…〉 Psal 63. to bend our mind upon him Psal 34. They had an eye unto him and were lightned to long for him and waite for him I have waited for thy salvation O God Gen. 4.9 I have longed for thy saving health O Lord. and â—â—thy Law is my delight O God my heart lusteth for thee my flesh longeth after thee Psal 63. to esteeme his favour above health or riches For thy loving kindnesse is better then life in the same Psalme The Law of thy mouth is dearer unto me then thousands of gold and silver Briefly to desire to bee joyned to him Whom have I in Heaven but thee Psal 73. My soule hath desired thee in the night Like as the Hart panteth after the water Brooks Ps 42. When shall I come to appeare before the presence of God All these are so many severall expressions of our love so many formes of comming to God But come to him how shall we except we enter into his way And no entring possibly into that unlesse we beleeve for Faith is the first step of the way If Love and Charity be the building Faith is the foundation as I told you If the service of God and Sanctification be the way why beleeving it is the doore of that way the first entrance the first beginning of it No wonder therefore the A postle adds faith presently upon it as a